Thomas Archbold

Thomas Archbold, or Thomas Galmole (died after 1506) was a goldsmith and silversmith, who also qualified as a lawyer, and rose to become a senior Crown official and judge in Ireland in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was Master of the Mint in Ireland for many years. William Archbold, a senior member of the Royal household who was appointed one of the Irish Barons of the Exchequer in 1378, Richard Archbold, Constable of Dublin Castle in the 1480s, may also have been a relative of Thomas. Although the sources are clear that he was a member of the Archbold family of Dublin, he was also called Thomas Galmole.

Thomas was a goldsmith by profession. He is first heard of in 1465 when he was having great difficulty collecting a debt: according to Elrington Ball, he had to make forty journeys between Dublin and County Meath in pursuit of it. Presumably this was a business debt, rather than a Crown one. He had workshops in both Dublin and Waterford. He shared the office of Master in Waterford, where Walter Marshall retained the title Marshal Master of the Mint. In 1483 Archbold was ordered to produce a new Irish coinage of pennies and halfpennies bearing the King's head on one side, and the Irish harp on the other.

Judge

Soon afterwards Archbold was appointed a Baron of the Court of Exchequer for life, but he was later superseded. What legal qualifications he had is unclear. He continued in office as Master of the Mint.